Man Arrested In Car-crash Death Of Surgeon

NEWINGTON — A Newington man was arrested Friday morning in connection with a Sept. 15 car accident that killed a West Hartford surgeon, police said.

Edward Kiley was arrested on a warrant and charged with misconduct with a motor vehicle, drunken driving, driving without insurance and reckless driving. Leslie Karp, 27, was killed in the accident.

FOR THE RECORD - Edward J. Kiley of Berlin has been charged by Newington police with driving while impaired, which means his blood-alcohol limit. The charge against him was incorrect in a story on Page C2 on Oct. 31.

Kiley was being held on $10,000 bail for an appearance in Superior Court. No other custody information was available.

Karp's mother, Cecile, said she was surprised and upset that the charges against Kiley were not more severe.

"He hasn't been charged with homicide or manslaughter or anything else," she said. "To me, he could have damaged somebody's bumper and gotten the same thing." The accident occurred at about 10:15 p.m. Sept. 15, on Fenn Road near Milk Street. Karp, a resident physician at the University of Connecticut Medical Center, was responding to an emergency room call at New Britain Memorial Hospital when the accident occurred.

Karp's car -- a Honda Civic -- was so badly damaged in the crash, that firefighters had to cut off the roof to get her out.

Kiley's car tipped over and landed on its roof. Kiley was able to crawl out of the car shortly before it burst into flames. He was treated at Hartford Hospital and released that night.

Karp was severely injured and was admitted to Hartford Hospital. She survived a week, but died on Sept. 24.

Cecile Karp described her daughter as energetic, determined and well-liked.

"There were over 600 people at her funeral," she said. "She was a person who tried to live her life very fully. She was an athlete. She swam, she had a bike, she ran."

Having finished her first year of general surgery residency, Leslie Karp was to have started a four-year ear, nose and throat residency at Hartford Hospital this month. Through the program at UConn, residents are on call for emergencies at four hospitals -- Hartford Hospital, St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, John Dempsey Hospital and New Britain Memorial Hospital.

"She was just on the verge of having a wonderful career," Cecile Karp said. "She had decided to go into a field that very few women go into. She was very respected. She was fondly enjoying what she did.

"We've gotten hundreds of letters. That's the kind of impact she had," she added. "No one can believe that it happened because she was a person that was very full of life. We're still very in shock and devastated."

The staff at UConn's ear, nose and throat division is hoping to name a new laboratory for Karp, division officials said. The proposed facility, called a temporal bone dissection laboratory, would teach people how to operate on the ear. However, the laboratory is in its early planning stages.